As with the provision that is currently in effect for 2011, the amount of revenue that is foregone to the Social Security Trust Funds because of the extension of this payroll tax reduction will be replaced with General Fund transfers of the same amount. Thus, the projected level of OASI and DI Trust Funds will be unaffected by the enactment of this bill. Link

Dusk-You-n-Me:Grand_Moff_Joseph: and the potential long term damage to the SS trust fund was huge.

SS trust fund didn't lose a dime.

As with the provision that is currently in effect for 2011, the amount of revenue that is foregone to the Social Security Trust Funds because of the extension of this payroll tax reduction will be replaced with General Fund transfers of the same amount. Thus, the projected level of OASI and DI Trust Funds will be unaffected by the enactment of this bill. Link

For the love of christ, let the tax cuts die. I'm in my last semester for my degree and working and even I know that the only way this country is going to get back economically, you need to let the tax cuts die.

/electrical engineering student, not doing electrical engineering//still end up paying me for the degree///still not as great as getting paid incredibly well for tech support :D

somedude210:For the love of christ, let the tax cuts die. I'm in my last semester for my degree and working and even I know that the only way this country is going to get back economically, you need to let the tax cuts die.

/electrical engineering student, not doing electrical engineering//still end up paying me for the degree///still not as great as getting paid incredibly well for tech support :D

The bush income tax cuts? Sure. Even below 250k if that's the only practical way. But not all taxes are created equal.

The payroll tax is regressive, hard on small buisnesses, AND is one of the very few taxes that does directly impact job creation. Cut it more!

BMulligan:It sucks for me personally, but it is clearly the right thing to do from a policy perspective.

My family will pay probably 3-4K more next year from this. Good. I want to receive SS when I retire.

The one thing I hope Obama does begin to tackle is spending cuts, militarily and domestically, and getting rid of tax loopholes, both corporate and personal. We really need to get this debt down. I think people will be surprised by how much lower the deficit is in a few years, if the US economy recovers this year and the next.

I'm OK with this. If you only consider federal income tax, I only pay something like 10% due to deductions, exemptions, and credits. Which is crazy considering I'm above median household income and a single-income household.

Next year, I won't be paying quite so little thanks to a successful business venture which, thanks to the tax cycle, is going to result in having about $20,000 extra in income to tax, but hell, I'm even OK with that, because it'll be my first time making six figures a year and I'm only in my 30s.

I don't mind spending an extra $4,000 to help out the less fortunate when I'm making bank.

/and said DEMAND has resulted in me hiring people - contract work, admittedly, but still work and money in the pockets of others//fark supply side economics

We're going from 4% to 6.2% (and the self-employeds are going from 10% to 12.2%) IIRC. And because we were all paying attention, we know that the payroll tax only applies to income up to $110k. So that 2.2% means a maximum additional yearly payment of $2,420. ~$120/month. If you make $50k, it's $1,100 even (almost $100/month).

And none of that figures in the part you get back from Uncle Sam (because now you paid an extra bunch in payroll taxes, you owe less in income taxes). Does anyone have good numbers?

bdub77:BMulligan: It sucks for me personally, but it is clearly the right thing to do from a policy perspective.

My family will pay probably 3-4K more next year from this. Good. I want to receive SS when I retire.

The one thing I hope Obama does begin to tackle is spending cuts, militarily and domestically, and getting rid of tax loopholes, both corporate and personal. We really need to get this debt down. I think people will be surprised by how much lower the deficit is in a few years, if the US economy recovers this year and the next.

Will there be real, measurable economic effects from lowering the deficit? Probably not. I think people will be annoyed in a few years, when we've slashed spending and raised taxes and have nothing to show for it.

The payroll witholding tax cut will expire. What is the payroll witholding tax? The income tax. So now, we will get bigger refunds, except that the Bush income tax cuts will expire too. Now that means you will pay more income tax. if you are a 47%, get ready to take home less money and give the USA less of an interest free loan.

Holocaust Agnostic:GAT_00: Dusk-You-n-Me: GAT_00: Which really doesn't make things that much better.

Just making sure we're all on the same page.

Oh it's a good thing to point out. But while it is good that the trust fund isn't being cratered more, the loss to the general fund isn't exactly good either.

Why?

Tax cuts don't stimulate much growth. You get much better returns on investment by creating projects and deficit spending that way, rather than handing back money to people who probably already had money in the first place. You get more by moving people from not spending to spending than by getting spenders to spend a little more.

I really wouldn't give a shiat if wages ever went upwards instead of mimicking Abe Vigoda's EKG or if gas prices could be tamed for more than tiny stretches at a time.

So I guess I do give a shiat and hope that Congress can work with the President to come up with a plan that keeps us off of the financial fiscal cliff and addresses all of this so that we don't stall this recovery any more than we already have.

Most of the mouth-breathers in this country are completely oblivious to the fact that they ever received a tax-cut in the first place and damn near half the country thinks their taxes went up at some unexplained point after Obama was inaugurated. I highly doubt anyone will notice.